Culture

9 Social Media Hoaxes You Fell for in 2013

The Top Hoaxes of 2013

1. The Gas Station Karaoke Couple

Will and Monifa Sims captured our hearts in May while singing karaoke at a gas station. The bit was part of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno's Pumpcast News segment, which features a live news anchor on a TV above a gas station pump who interacts with customers. The duo agreed to sing a few rounds of karaoke and the clip went viral, thanks to their enthusiasm and strong vocal skills. But it was later discovered that Will and Monifa were both trained actors.

2. Manti Te'o Girlfriend

Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o, who now plays for the San Diego Chargers, fell victim to a social media hoax. In January, Deadspin reported that Te'o's longtime online girlfriend Lennay Kekua, who allegedly died in a car accident, never existed. Their story of love and loss captivated Americans' hearts throughout the football season, but the truth ultimately surfaced -- a truth that reportedly astounded Te'o as well. The hoax was orchestrated by a male acquaintance of Te'o's who said he was in love with the linebacker, Deadspin reported.

3. Paris Hilton's Nelson Mandela Tweet

Following the news of Nelson Mandela's death, a fake tweet from Paris Hilton's account made the rounds. "RIP Nelson Mandela. Your 'I Have a Dream' speech was so inspiring. An amazing man," the tweet read.

But the tweet was created by @DeletedTweets, a parody account which has since removed most of its content. Hilton fired back after learning about the incident, tweeting (for real this time), "Whoever made that stupid tweet lacks respect to the loss the world is mourning right now."

4. Letter to Santa With the Amazon Link

An adorable kid's letter to Santa gained significant attention in December for its unusual request: Instead of telling Santa the name of the toy he wanted, the letter contained a long Amazon link, ostensibly to the desired product. The media -- Mashable included (we later issued a correction) -- pounced on the letter, which was posted by Twitter user @Gequeoman, and heralded as a sign of the times. But it turns out, the note was not the work of a child. Rather, a comedian posted it to the blog The Inclusive in 2011 and it only recently resurfaced.

Editor's Note: Mashable initially reported on the letter, then later issued a clarification when it was determined a hoax.

5. Thanksgiving Airplane Note War

On Thanksgiving, the Internet followed along with The Bachelor producer Elan Gale as he live-tweeted a situation he claimed to experience on an airplane. A passenger named "Diane" grew angry with the airline crew when the flight was delayed and caused a scene. Gale confronted "Diane" via several handwritten notes, and the web watched a back-and-forth showdown unfold. Days later, he revealed he made the whole thing up.

"So many questions unanswered about Diane. In 15 minutes I will post the photo and hopefully we can resolve all this," he wrote on Twitter.

He then tweeted a picture of an an empty chair and this message: "I conclude by saying hopefully a few people got a few laughs over a slow Thanksgiving weekend."

6. Major Twerking Fail

When so-called Caitlin Heller captured her upside-down twerking fail in September, during which she fell onto a coffee table and ignited a small house fire, it reached 9 million views on YouTube in one week.

But it was later revealed to be a stunt orchestrated by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who wanted to see just how far the joke could go online.

"We made it up. ... We shot that video two months ago," Kimmel said. "We didn't send it to any TV stations, I didn't tweet it, we didn't put it on any news websites. We just put it on YouTube and let the magic happen, and the magic happened."

7. Kiss Cam Breakup

During a Grizzlies baseball game in Fresno, Calif., a woman poured a drink on her boyfriend when he wouldn't get off the phone to kiss her during their Kiss Cam moment on the Jumbotron. The clip, which was posted to YouTube, gathered much attention, but in the end, the "couple" was actually just two Grizzlies employees having a little fun.

8. @Horse_ebooks

Twitter followers of the popular account @Horse_ebooks learned this year that it wasn't actually run by a spambot, but rather two people who worked in media. For years, the account tweeted random fragments of text every few hours from horse-related e-books, but in September, the truth was unveiled: The account was part of a large performance art experiment. @Horse_ebooks was first started in August 2010 by a Russian man named Alexei Kouznetsov, who handed over the account to Jacob Bakkila of BuzzFeed and Thomas Bender, previously of Howcast. The announcement caused shock and outrage among its loyal followers.

9. Zero Tip on a $100 Bill

When New Jersey waitress Dayna Morales posted a picture to Facebook of a customer's receipt that allegedly included zero tip on a $93.55 bill because of her sexual orientation, it made national news. "I'm sorry but I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle," a note on the receipt read. Sympathizers worldwide began sending money to Morales to show their support.

But the family who was served by Morales on that fateful day confirmed that they had indeed left an $18 tip, and provided a credit card statement as proof. "I just felt like people have a right to know that -- it's fine if people want to donate to her or to the Wounded Warriors, but they're doing it under a false pretense," the wife told NBC 4 New York.

The Internet is a gullible place. Before you know it, you buy into a YouTube video, and you're sharing Facebook posts and tweets with misinformation. If you haven't done so yourself, you likely know someone who has.

Some of the most viral stories of the year have turned out to be fakes. Remember when Will and Monifa Sims captured our hearts in May while singing karaoke at a gas station? They were actors. And who could forget the hilarious twerking girl on fire? Simply a stunt orchestrated by Jimmy Kimmel.

Not all hoaxes were videos, though. The Internet followed along with Elan Gale, a producer for The Bachelor, who live-tweeted a fake situation he claimed to experience on an airplane; an adorable kid's letter to Santa was actually the brainchild of a comedian.

For a full look at the top social media hoaxes you fell for this year, check out the gallery above.

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